We Are Not Ready
August 20, 2004
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Church Issues, Community, Counterculture, Relevance Feedback : 4 comments
Can you feel the tsunami beginning to form? It will be crashing on our shores soon enough.
And we are not ready.
From Sweden we get the story of a pastor (now jailed) who spoke out on a loaded topic, one that has also resulted in legal wrangling in our neighbor to the north. Christianity Today notes the fallout in “No Free Speech in Preaching”. This is only one topic. What others will become verboten? “Jesus is the only way to Heaven?” “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God?” Will popular opinion and unpopular politics render the message of the Gospel nothing more than a trailer for a Care Bears movie?
We have made no preparations in the Church in this country to withstand the onslaught when it occurs. We are too preoccupied with thinking that politics is the sole solution, but we have ignored the fact that politics has made all this possible, even on our watch. We can hold off the social upheaval for a while, but the rising tidal wave spawned by a far away earthquake will not relent; we have no other defense but to be prepared. Yet still, we sleep on.
The Church in America learned nothing from the last recession. The second a few jobs came back and consumer confidence rose a few ticks, we plunged back into our stupor. When a greater recession comes, one that lasts for longer and puts more out of work, what will be the response of churches around this country? How will they care for their congregations? How have they built a network among their congregants and with other churches to keep people—both inside and outside the Church—employed, housed, and fed? When the government decides its ever-expanding coffers must be filled during a downturn by taking away the tax exemption for churches, how will your average multi-acre megachurch survive a million dollar tax burden no one expected when the cornerstone was laid?
We are not ready.
With pollster George Barna’s statistics showing a downward spiral in biblical knowledge, solid doctrine, and plain old right thinking, how will we be able to face any future wrath the world unleashes against the Church? People who do not know who or what they believe will find nothing to undergird them when the time of testing comes. Some would argue that a great falling away would only skim the dross from the Church, but the way we run our church infrastructures today would leave us even more vulnerable.
We who worship Jesus are unprepared to become a dwindling minority in our culture. Our beliefs are such that we know we are losing the battle, but we are unwilling to do what is necessary to shore up our own vessels. We have not trimmed the sails and now the mast is creaking while we sleep down in the hold of the good ship Blissful Unawareness. The Bible shows us our error:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
—Matthew 25:1-13
We are not ready.
No tag for this post.
The Power of a Handshake and a Smile
August 15, 2004
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Christianity in North America, Church Issues, Community Feedback : 1 comment so far
You can’t underestimate the power of a handshake and a smile.
My family visited relatives in Northern Ohio to celebrate our welcoming our son Ethan into the world four years ago today. We joined them at the new church they are attending, Pleasant View Mennonite Church in North Lawrence, OH.
I mention that church specifically because for twenty minutes before the service started we were personally greeted by at least twenty people out of maybe a hundred and twenty attending this morning. One out of every six congregants came up and told us they were glad that we were there. They wanted to know about us, went out of their way to say how happy they were that we were there, and even showed special consideration to our son on his birthday. People engaged us as we left, too, hoping that we would come back again.
In an age when visitors can drift in and out of your average church undetected, is there nothing more powerful than a firm handshake and someone looking you square in the eye, telling you they are glad to have you come, and really meaning it? Isn’t that what people truly want to experience when they attend a church for the first time, a sense of belonging?
This church isn’t Powerpoint-enabled, doesn’t have a worship team or an $80,000 sound system, is populated by a lot of folks with gray hair, and still clings to hymns written two centuries ago. In short, they are not a marketing dream. But the one thing they do have is a congregation of people who know hospitality, who can make the alien welcome, who know the power of a genuine smile.
I’ll go back. Will you join me?
No tag for this post.
What Constitutes Spiritual Growth?
August 11, 2004
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Uncategorized Feedback : 3 comments
In a discussion I had earlier today, I asked how we measure spiritual growth.
Of course, the standard is that someone grows into the image of Christ, but is this measurable in any way?
The Bible says this:
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
—2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
For those of us who have a Christian education background, what test do we use to measure the change from one degree of glory to another?
This is an important issue for us as we seek to make disciples. A few attempts to standardize a test exist, but usually some group of people winds up being underserved by the application of the test.
Thoughts?
No tag for this post.
Good People, Disappointing Results
August 10, 2004
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Uncategorized Feedback : add a comment
A theologically graphic thought for the day:
Charles Schulz may be gone, but he still speaks. From The Gospel According to Peanuts by Robert Short.
No tag for this post.
Cerulean Sanctum…Now With 77% More Graphics!
August 8, 2004
Posted by Dan Edelen in : Blogging Feedback : 1 comment so far
No one was pleading for this, but now you can catch a glimpse of me through the magic of Blogger and my wife’s photographic skills. That’s me in the flesh in the “About Me” sidebar. No cringing, please.
Despite my parboiled CSS skills (please don’t View Source…I’m begging), you can also take in the new “Essential Reading” list. My promise to you: Read the ten books listed and your life will be changed.
And to all the loyal readers, I thank you for the wonderful things you have been saying. And for those of you with blogs, if I have not added you to the “Links,” I promise to do that soon enough.
Blessings to you all!
PS - If a decent CSS coder out there has a sleeker approach to the “Essential Reading” CSS detritus I deposited there, please feel free to drop me a line and let me know a more professional approach. I could use the learnin’.
No tag for this post.
Posts
Comments
